The Mayo College Mail interviews Monsieur Baptiste Gasselin, who stayed and taught French at
Mayo for a year and returned to France last week.
MCM (The Mayo College Mail): How was your stay at
MCM: What would
MCM: What would
Mayo?
you remember about
you remember about
BGS (Baptiste Gasselin): When I look back at the year
your stay the most when
your
stay
the
most
when
In France we
gone by, I ﬁnd that my stay at Mayo was not about learnyou get back to France?
you get back to France?
always
ing, it was in fact about sharing and experiencing new
BGS:
I
ﬁnd
it
BGS:
I ﬁnd ithave 20
things from teachers and discovering from students. The
impossible
pick one even impossible to pick one
marks topapers
educational systems are very diﬀerent in France and Inmoment. There are a lot
moment. There are a lot
if
their
duration
is
dia. You will not ﬁnd a school like Mayo in France as
of moments jumping in
of moments jumping in
we don’t have such good architecture of heritage buildmy mind. I remember
my
mind.
I
remember
4 hours.
ings in our schools. In fact, when my family visited Mayo
my ﬁrst assembly in
my ﬁrst assembly in
they were surprised and even asked me whether this is a
Mayo College on April
Mayo College on April
school or not!
1, 2009. When I ﬁrst saw the ancient assembly hall, I just
kept thinking what I am doing sitting here at this place! I
MCM: What are your thoughts about India?
remember the sports I played with the Mayoites; I rememBGS: I feel that even in a year, I didn’t see India propber the festivals which I feel like celebrating every year!
erly at all… Imagine a 10 feet high cake…I just had a
Mayo is a school where there are no boundaries between
teaspoon of this cake! There is so much in India that is
students and teachers. It is a family which no one can dito be seen. I loved the Indian food. Although it’s quite
vide. Talking about India, I remember traveling in the train.
spicy for me, I really liked it. The Indians are nice. Some
(Laughs) Indian trains are wonderful and unique in their
are smart, some are stupid! The main thing about this
own special way. Even the monuments were great.
nation is that anywhere you go, you get to learn new and

“

”

impressive things. I have gone to many new countries
like Australia, but India has a wonderful history of centuries and centuries. I liked all the festivals. Holi was especially good. I wish we had festivals like Holi, Diwali
and Rakhi in France.
MCM: What diﬀerences do you ﬁnd between the French
and Indian education systems?
BGS: Oh…there is a very huge diﬀerence. In France,
there are many ways to get to the next class even if you
get very low marks. In India, you have got to be the best
to survive. Here, there are hard workers also and many
‘give-ups’ also. In France we always have a 20 marks papers even if their duration is 4 hours and unlike India, in
a single school almost 20 regional languages are taught
in France as optional subjects.

MCM: What is your message to the Mayoites?
BGS: I would like to just say that students should trust
their teachers. Find your way, your path yourself. You will
one day realise what you want to do in your future…it is
not necessary that this day would come soon…it may come
anytime and take you into a new and a better life. Don’t be
worried with what others say. Don’t let others pressurize
you. Your life is only yours and nobody else’s.
“Le vrai miroir de nos discours
est le cours de nos vies.”

Your words reﬂect your personality and the way you
lead your life. (Motto of his
University).

OPINION POLL

2

NO 27.9%
24 VOTES

YES 63.95%
55 VOTES

Next poll - How do you rate the CCE grading system?
Submit your votes on Mayoonline

Issue No.27

‘’
Quotes

Next poll - Do you think there can be a better
disciplinary system than the current Tick System?
CAN’T SAY 8.14%
7 VOTES

Saturday, March 13, 2010

“Know your needs, not wants.”

‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’‘’
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t
hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell
the flowers along the way.”

Colour-ed and Cravat-ed!

Debate
The Interhouse Hindi Debate for Middles was held
on the Bikaner Pavilion on March 9, 2010. The topic
for the debate was ‘Gandhigiri is an eﬀective way
of solving problems’, and each house had a speaker speaking for and another speaking against the
topic.
The results are as follows:

The College Colours and Cravats were awarded to the meritorious students in the ﬁeld of
sports, academics and co-curricular activities
by the Principal during the special assembly
at the Bikaner Pavilion on March 6, 2010.
The Cravats are quite unique in their own
way as they are awarded only once in a lifetime for particular societies/magazines/academics. The colours on the other hand are
awarded to the budding sportsmen of the
school and may be given more than once to
the same boy.

CORRIGENDUM
In the Opinion Poll of the previous issue (No.
26), the Yes option stood for Fiction and the
No option stood for Non-Fiction. We apologise
for the mistake.

3
6 PRINCIPALS

for peace of mind
Forgive And Forget:
This is the most powerful aid to peace of mind. We often
develop ill feelings inside our heart for the person who insults us or harms us. Get over this bad habit. Life is too
short to waste in such triﬂes. Forgive & forget, and march
on.
Do Not Crave For Recognition:
This world is full of selﬁsh people. They seldom praise
anybody without selﬁsh motives. They may praise you today because you are in power, but no sooner than you are
powerless, they will forget your achievement and will start
ﬁnding faults in you. Their recognition is not worth the
aggravation. Do your duties ethically and sincerely.
Change Yourself According To The Environment:
If you try to change the environment single-handedly, the
chances are you will fail. Instead, change yourself to suit
your environment. As you do this, even the environment,
which has been unfriendly to you, will mysteriously change
and seem congenial and harmonious.
Do Not Bite Oﬀ More Than You Can Chew:
This maxim needs to be remembered constantly. We often
tend to take more responsibilities than we are capable of
carrying out. Know your limitations. Why take on additional loads that may create more worries? You cannot gain
peace of mind by expanding your external activities.
Never Leave The Mind Vacant:
An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. All evil actions
start in the vacant mind. Keep your mind occupied in
something positive, something worthwhile. Actively follow
a hobby. You must decide what you value more: money or
peace of mind.
Do Not Procrastinate And Never Regret:
Do not waste time in protracted wondering “ Should I
or shouldn’t I?” Days, weeks, months, and years may be
wasted in that futile mental debating. You can never plan
enough because you can never anticipate all future happenings. Value your time and do the things that need to be
done. It does not matter if you fail the ﬁrst time. You can
learn from your mistakes and succeed the next time. Learn
from your mistakes, but do not brood over the past. Do
not regret. Why cry over spilt milk?

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Issue No.27

This too shall pass!

O

nce upon a time there lived this Jewish king named
Solomon. In a grumpy mood, he thought of teaching
Benamiah Ben Yehoyada, his minister, a lesson. So he
assigned him a seemingly impossible task. He ordered Benamiah to ﬁnd him a magic ring with extraordinary features. And
that was – if you were happy and wore the ring, your would
feel unhappy and vice-versa. If you were joyous and wore it,
you would feel absolutely sad! Solomon gave him a six-month
timeline for the search. Deep down in their hearts, both Solomon and Benamiah knew that such a ring did not exist in the
universe. Benamiah prayed hard for a miracle. A little before
the deadline was over - and having walked all over for such a
ring - he decided to go to one of the poorest places in Jerusalem. There he saw an old merchant who was spreading out his
goods on a carpet. Benamiah was quite intrigued. He thought,
‘Let me take a chance with him.’ Therefore, he asked the merchant whether he had a magic ring of that kind. The merchant
smiled. He took a gold ring from his wares and etched four
words on it. Benamiah took the gold ring. When he read the
inscription, he was extremely happy. He felt that his mission
was accomplished. He went back to Solomon. Solomon and
all his ministers began making a mockery of Benamiah, teasing him as he would have returned empty-handed. Benamiah
smiled and oﬀered the gold ring to His Majesty. As soon as
Solomon read what was written, he stopped being a tease. The
words were ‘this too shall pass’. Suddenly, Solomon felt that
everything in life was ephemeral, and nothing lasts forever.

:3

FIXTURES OF THIS WEEK
DATE
March 13
March 13
March 14
March 14
March 15
March 16
March 16
March 17
March 18
March 19
March 19
March 20
March 20

One smart fellow, he felt smart.
Two smart fellows, they felt smart.
Three smart fellows, they all felt smart.
..................................................................................................

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

I cannot bear to see a bear
Bear down upon a hare.
When bare of hair he strips the hare,
Right there I cry, “Forbear!”
........................................................................................................

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
........................................................................................................